Agent Elf
Agent Elf is one of the major supporting characters in Metal Shadow Prelude. Her real name is Rayshael Young. She was one of the first and most recognized Agents to have joined The Agency before her demise at the hands of the Three Queens. She is now one of Gineden's nine heroes, destined to battle the Black God in her next life. History Elf first appears in chapter 4 of the Prelude, leading Elf Squad on their hunt for Noa Rylie. She is established as the brains behind the operation. Upon finding Noa, Elf orders half of her team to return Noa to the Agency, while she and Agent Ghost finish off the half-men who were pursuing Noa. Van appears and Elf decides to dispatch him as well, deducing that Noa must be his target. She and Ghost defeat Van, but he turns out to be a clone; the real Van had watched the battle from afar. He appears and requests an alliance with them, which Elf accepts (much to Ghost's chagrin) because she does not want to fight the real thing. Her curiosity of Van begins to grow from this point forward. Elf, Ghost, and Van corner Noa in Wilde Passage, where Noa unleashes latent powers that nearly kill them. The two Agents lose their jewels. Elf survives and carries Ghost to the crash site of the team airship where the other team members are now recovering, leaving Van behind. The team is ambushed by beastie and Elf is felled by a magic weapon. She recovers later and learns that Ziare had detected Van nearby and placed an emblazon tracker on him; she commissions him, Ghost, and Agent Lair to hunt down Van and return him. While the trio are out, she practices a mysterious emblazon and spies on Agent Delta's conversation with Agent Rail and Agent Ex. When the trio return with Van, Elf employs the mysterious emblazon she had been practicing, creating a clone of herself which scouts the area and finds a safehouse for the team. She admits that the seal was a crude copy of Van's cloning emblazon. The team recuperates at the safehouse, trying and failing to get to know more about Van, then head out to find Noa again. After the heated battles in the city under Wilde Passage, Elf Squad turn on Van when Rail Platoon appears and orders them to. Van escapes with Noa, while the Agents escape the crumbling city. Aboard Rail Platoon's airship, Elf is given command of Rail Platoon for the rest of the hunt. Elf decides to use every Agent currently without jewels--herself, Ghost, Ziare, Lair, Rail, Ex, and Delta--to pursue Noa, while the ones with jewels--Rail's Platoon--will pursue Van. When the jewel-less team's encounter with Noa is interrupted by the arrival of the Liberation Front, Shieva, and Raffikke, Noa takes Elf's advice and allies herself with the Agents to escape Purgia. Elf is the first to fall when Noa betrays the team on Anikae's submarine, being the most dangerous threat on the team. For the remainder of the Prelude Elf struggles to come to terms with the fact that she is no longer an Agent. For lacking jewels, her team is set for execution, which baffles her because she believes they had done good, loyal work. Elf tries to lead her team to safety after this betrayal, but in the end, their memories lead them back to their natural nemesis: Dr. Dragon. She dies alongside her teammates in a clash with Dr. Dragon and his wives. She is then drawn into Gineden's rebirth spell and fated to battle the Black God in her next life. During Anikae's recollection, she learns her name is Rayshael Young and that she had been the favorite wife of Lord Pyenze before faking her death during his assassination and fleeing. She became a member of the original Liberation Front, joined the mission to revive Lad Wydnie, then got caught by the Agency and turned into Agent Elf, losing her memories in the process. Characteristics Appearance Average in height but petite in build, Elf is a particularly stunning woman in terms of looks. She has white-blond hair clipped to shoulder length, straight-edge bangs covering her forehead, and remarkably crystalline light blue eyes. Her body is athletic, with an hourglass shape. She wears the Agency-issued uniform throughout her appearance in the Prelude. Her shirt is black, representing elite ranking. Personality Initially Elf comes across as a bossy woman. She is content giving brisk, sharp orders to her crew, never showing much of her personal side or getting into personal history. However, she isn't inherently sassy; that is only her demeanor while on the job. She genuinely enjoys the company of others, and would even crack an occasional joke when she is not in character -- if dark in tone and delivered dry. Still, she has a no-nonsense attitude, high integrity, and a relatively cynical outlook on things. Battle Style Elf has below average power and standard magic. Her speed, will, and skill, however, are all in the super and extreme categories, with her intellect being her most prominent trait. Her ability to strategize quickly was exemplified several times throughout the Prelude, but too many factors out of her control led to frequent failures--including and especially her reckless misuse of Van's cloning seal. Abilities *Emblazon portal *Elf clone *Kentai-en light barrier *Kentai-bu fire barrier Disposables *Iron dagger Trivia *Elf was "Agent E" in the original draft of the Prelude. According to the original Agency naming scheme, this meant she was the fourth unit ever to join. *Rayshael Young was the wife of Van in the original draft Prelude. She died at Agent S' hands, sending him into a rage. This plot twist was removed due to the immense complications it caused to Van and Rayshael's backstory. *Elf is the second member in the height chain among Gineden's nine heroes. She is taller than Ghost but shorter than Rail. *Her character design and personality are inspired by Elena of the Turks from Final Fantasy VII and Clare from the Japanese manga Claymore. Category:Prelude characters Category:Characters from Ende Category:Deceased characters Category:Gineden's nine heroes Category:Elf Squad members Category:Characters Category:Female characters